UNC Palliative Care
Dealing with a serious illness is challenging on your body, mind and spirit. At UNC Health, palliative care teams can help you find much-needed relief from the symptoms, pain and stress of your serious illness, as well as the side effects of your treatments. Palliative Care services focus on improving your quality of life.
Services are provided while patients are seeking aggressive treatment for their primary illness. Palliative care provides an extra layer of support, along with your current treatment and care team.
This specialized medical care can be provided no matter what your diagnosis is. Palliative care can be helpful to patients and their loved ones during all stages of an illness. Palliative care services are covered under Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurance providers.
Who needs palliative care?
Palliative care may be a good fit for you if:
- Your quality of life is suffering because of an illness
- Your condition has worsened despite ongoing treatment
- You rely more on family and friends for extra help
- You need help understanding your options for care
- Trips to the doctor’s office or emergency room are happening more frequently
- You are confused about your options or feel that the information given to you by your care team is hard to understand
Palliative care is different from hospice care. Given at the same time as your other treatments, anyone living with a chronic or serious illness can benefit from palliative care.
Palliative care can also benefit your family and other caregivers. Often families can become overwhelmed when taking care of someone with a serious illness. Receiving palliative care allows your family to focus on supporting you emotionally and allows your medical team to focus on treating your illness.
A Diverse Care Team
You will receive care provided by a team of experts, which may include specially trained doctors, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, licensed clinical social workers, chaplains and other healthcare professionals.
Palliative Care Services
During your palliative care visits, your care team will discuss and help you with:
- Symptoms that may bother you
- Medications
- Your overall health
- What is important to you when making medical decisions
Where can I get palliative care?
You can get palliative care in the hospital, in an out-patient clinic or at home.
- Inpatient palliative care is offered at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill and UNC Hospitals Hillsborough Campus.
- Outpatient palliative care is offered in clinics at UNC Eastowne Medical Office Building, N.C. Basnight Cancer Hospital and UNC Hospitals Hillsborough Campus.
- Community-based (at-home) palliative care is offered in Alamance, Chatham, Durham, Orange and Wake counties.
Community-Based Palliative Care
UNC Community Palliative Care provides support if you are homebound and experiencing pain or side effects due to treatment for a serious illness. The goal of Community Palliative Care is to help control your pain and improve your quality of life at home. Healthcare professionals in the program coordinate with your providers and check in with them regularly to ensure you receive the care that’s right for you.
You need your provider’s referral to begin receiving Community Palliative Care, but you can reach out with questions Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 5 PM. Call Community Palliative Care at 984-215-5588 or send an email to CommPalliativeCareTeam@unchealth.unc.edu.
